Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front

The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) is a formerly armed, political separatist organisation active in both the Indian-administered and Pakistani-administered territories of Kashmir. It was founded by Amanullah Khan, with Maqbool Bhat also credited as a co-founder. Originally a militant wing of the Azad Kashmir Plebiscite Front, the organization officially changed its name to the ''Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front'' in Birmingham, England on 29 May 1977; from then until 1994 it was an active Kashmiri militant organization. The JKLF first established branches in several cities and towns of the United Kingdom and other countries in Europe, as well as in the United States and across the Middle East. In 1982, it established a branch in the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and by 1987, it had established a branch in the Indian-administered Kashmir Valley.

After 1994, the JKLF wing in Indian-administered Kashmir, under the leadership of Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik, declared an "indefinite ceasefire" and reportedly disbanded its militant wing. Following this, the organization committed itself to a political struggle in order to achieve its objective of independence for the entire region of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from both India and Pakistan. However, the JKLF branch in Azad Jammu and Kashmir did not agree with this change of direction and subsequently split off from the JKLF wing in the Kashmir Valley. In 2005, the two groups merged again, retaining the organization's original identity.

Although the JKLF has only Muslim members, it is notionally secular. It continues to assert that a secular, independent Kashmir—free of both India and Pakistan—is its eventual goal. Despite having received support in the form of weapons and training from the Pakistani military, it regards Pakistan as an 'occupation power' and carries out a political struggle against it in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The JKLF in the Kashmir Valley was officially banned by the Indian government under an anti-terror law passed in March 2019—one month after the Pulwama attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed. Provided by Wikipedia